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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Birger Mount Videos - Complete Series Now Available

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Erik Widding

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Thanks to Jay Kelley of DreamWelder Productions, all three parts of the video series are up, including overview, installation and setup/collimation. To view these, and videos covering other third party accessories:
Jay wanted me to point out that the last video is missing the last 30 seconds. He is presently reprocessing, uploading, converting.... I am really impressed with the work that Jay did with these.
 
Few and far between are the people that work so hard to educate others and even fewer still those that will do it so well on a rush schedule.

Jay, you rock!

Watched all three twice. Only problem is that I may actually now be overqualified to install the Birger on my Red One when it arrives today. :)

michael zaletel
(shooter)
 
misinformation

misinformation

Hello Guys,
I've just watched the video and(very nice production BTW), unfortunately, technically it makes very little sense.
I think it will do more harm than good.
For starters
1. The focus should be checked wide open to minimize the inconcistency caused by DOF
2. The numbers displayed are meaningless and irrelevant-you are certainly not at 100+meters away from the chart and that's what the display shows.
3. The readings that you described show mainly reading error/inconsistancy and not the proper settings.
Jay and Co.- please do not take it personally- your production value is great it's the content that is misleading.
These just comments from someone that has done this for 20+ years.
Jacek Zakowicz, OptiTek.org:thumbsup:
 
Misinformation Part Deux

Misinformation Part Deux

OptiTek said:
1. The focus should be checked wide open to minimize the inconcistency caused by DOF
Click to expand...

This first comment is correct. You go downhill from here.

OptiTek said:
2. The numbers displayed are meaningless and irrelevant-you are certainly not at 100+meters away from the chart and that's what the display shows.
Click to expand...

These numbers are neither meaningless nor irrelevant. An explanation of what these numbers are is in order... We use the focus distance readout on the screen to display the motor position if an extended focus calibration has not been performed. The leading 1 is there to ensure that nobody mistakes these for real numbers. The entire range of the motor is mapped from 100,00 to 116,38. This gives an easy way to see the difference in position, very accurately. It also gives a very accurate, and very high resolution measurement, in arbitrary, but linear, units.

It should be noted, once we run an extended focus calibration, we interpolate the focus distance to centimeters, and display this.

OptiTek said:
3. The readings that you described show mainly reading error/inconsistancy and not the proper settings.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the idea. Jay is calculating an error number, doing a polynomial fit of these error numbers, and... oh right... Jay isn't a math guy, and he is simply showing people that successive aproximation works too. Our collimation assist software will do the first. It isn't ready yet.

OptiTek said:
Jay and Co.- please do not take it personally- your production value is great it's the content that is misleading. These just comments from someone that has done this for 20+ years.
Click to expand...

The zoom lens is the collimator. I wouldn't expect womeone selling collimators to like this approach. We are not collimating the camera to a reference. We are collimating it to the lens the user actually owns.
 
If you don't like the paper/calculator approach, here's a quick spreadsheet that you can open in Excel/Numbers/Google Documents/Open Office (I had to zip it as RU doesn't allow for .csv attachments). You just enter the settings and get the results. :thumbsup:
 
a little better- but still wrong

a little better- but still wrong

So the numbers make sense now.
Still, with 638steps resolution the readings that Jay gets are inconsistant- I suspect that there is too much play in the mechanics and the mechanical adjustment just doesn't resolve the needed 638 steps.
That's regardless how wrong I think is collimating camera to a random lens...
Jacek Zakowicz, OptiTek.org:cool:
 
The goal here is to help people. There is a lower thirds (2 in fact) letting you know to choose your own f-stop and that there are advantages to shoowing wide open.

I put up a link to a focus chart that's free on the chance that someone may need one quickly. Buying one is always best.

I think I'll just avoid responding to the rest of your comments. Others can do that.

Jay
 
Dustin Cross said:
So if I collimate the Birger. Then put an object at 3 feet and focus on it with the lens data read 3 feet?
Click to expand...

Within the tolerance with which the lens and/or camera are collimated. We will add the ability to set and store compensation data in the mount in a future software release that will allow the numbers to be right on.
 
infinity issues

infinity issues

So, if both the calibration and back focus on the lens are off you would not be able to reach infinity. Just a thought....
Jacek Zakowicz, OptiTek.org:)
 
i-data cable issues

i-data cable issues

the videos are great. i watched them all a few times and then dove into changing my mount. but i quickly ran into a problem when it came to attaching the i-data cable to the birger mount.

in the 2nd video, jay holds up his birger mount (his prototype looks a lot different than mine) for a close-up that seems to indicate the cable connector should be w,w,b,r. my mount has no markings like the one in the video so i assumed the connector housing in there would still be the same. however, after a close look (it's so far recessed, i can't really see it in there and feel like i'm just feeling around with a screwdriver blindly) i noticed the connector can only accept the cable the opposite way!

i slipped on the connector and it seems like it's in there but i can't see anything and am afraid to power up for fear, i'll short something.

am i correct that the connector is keyed and will not go in unless it's the right way? if so, i must be connected properly right now. but why would the mount in the video which is clearly marked have the connector housing the opposite way?

i suppose i can just chalk it up to a prototype mount looking different but i'm afraid many users will have the problems i am having when they reach this stage.
 
studiodrome said:
@OptiTek all my canon lenses focus past infinity so its not as crucial to have it be exact as a true cinema lens. Also Jay thanks for making the videos fun to watch.
Click to expand...

I think the Tokina 11-16mm hits infinity just about perfectly. Mine seems to be pretty finicky. All my Canon lenses do go past infinity though. Just got the 70-200 F/2.8 IS. Wow... now that's a helluva lens. It hold focus through zoom. Breathes a bit, but very slight in practical use.
 
OptiTek said:
Hello Guys,
I've just watched the video and(very nice production BTW), unfortunately, technically it makes very little sense.
I think it will do more harm than good.
Click to expand...


Geez! Someone needs a hug... or a good slice of Apple pie a la mode where the pie crust is just perfectly flaky and where the ice cream is rich yet fluffy.

Don't feel bad though, I've been known to send out an email or two in that genre to employees or vendors. :(
Sometimes I wish my email client had Gmail's new "UNDO SEND" feature.

-michael zaletel
(shooter)
 
michael zaletel said:
Geez! Someone needs a hug... or good slice of Apple pie a la mode where the pie crust is just perfectly flaky and where the ice cream is rich yet fluffy.

-michael zaletel
(shooter)
Click to expand...

Thanks Michael, Thanks alot.. now i cant get apple pie out of my head.
 
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